The modern sporting arena. Straining muscles, the sweat of combat, the roar of the crowd, the majesty of the human form engaging in an activity that links us through the ages and across continents that is as old and noble as mankind itself: athletic competition.

Until recently, none of this was as thrilling to me as knowing that in a stadium, it is perfectly acceptable social behavior to suck on peanut shells to get all the salt off.

I didn't grow up in a sports household. Coming from New York, my father's last team allegiance ended in 1958, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved across the country. Mainstream sports were lost on my mother, a former professional ballerina.

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One summer, I learned the Mets' pitching lineup to impress a boy (which, in a bizarre feat of memory, I can still recite years later - Leiter, Reed, Appier, Rusch, Trachsel), but it didn't work so I gave up and focused more on cooking and eating at sporting events, priding myself in knowing where to get the least soggy nachos at Yankee Stadium.

When I met my boyfriend, Dave, an avid New York Giants' fan, he tried to teach me about football on Sunday afternoons, but I'd tune out after the first quarter and find myself contemplating if anything rhymed with Plaxico or it if lived in the same camp as "orange."

Five months after we moved to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. And suddenly, I got it - the thrill of watching a team work as one, of knowing the players' backstories, of being invested in a game's outcome. On that November night when the city came out to rejoice, I called Dave breathlessly.

"I can't believe the season's over!" I cried. "When does it start again?"

He was speechless. Finally, his girlfriend was a sports fan.

To bide my time until opening day, which is fast approaching - finally! - I decided to get a jump start on food preparations for those days when we'll be watching the team at home. But with baseball food, its beauty lies in its simplicity. Peanuts, popcorn, hot dogs, soda. How much can you jazz it up?

Quite a bit, it turns out, if you have months to plan.

Dave requested something with hot dogs and something with cherry cola, and after bouncing a few ideas around, we settled on three twists on baseball food. All of them can be prepared ahead so the focus on game day can be on baseball, not cooking.

Up to this point, our cooking lessons have been basic: eggs, roast chicken, soups, stir-fries (see the links with this story on sfgate.com/food). These baseball-inspired dishes might sound more complicated, but they're actually quite simple, so I deemed them Dave-appropriate.

For the ice cream, I reworked a traditional creme anglaise base to eliminate the eggs and the accompanying fear of inadvertently scrambling them. This recipe is as simple as warming milk and popping popcorn. Then an ice cream machine does the work.

Pretzel dough, I found, is particularly forgiving for novice bakers, and though it requires a little time - the dough must rise, then be shaped, boiled and baked - the bulk of the recipe can be done weeks in advance, the bites frozen until you need them.

Braising draws out rich flavors (and makes the house smell delicious to boot), but it doesn't require much more than putting everything in a pot and sticking it in the oven. That's it.

The pork actually benefits from advance preparation - sitting overnight in braising liquid helps deepen the flavors - and the next day, you shred the meat and reduce the sauce. Because pork shoulder is cheap, you can feed a crowd of eight for about $10.

Make no mistake: Come game day, I'll still be licking the salt off of peanut shells, making sure the coleslaw is properly vinegared and the pretzel salt appropriately coarse and crunchy. I still care about the food, but now I also care about the Giants.

Pretzel Hot Dog Bites

Makes about 48

Serve these with your finest mustard. You can substitute any type of pre-cooked sausage for the hot dogs, and you can easily halve the recipe. Or, freeze the assembled bites up to a month before boiling and baking. If you have leftover dough, form it into pretzels, bake and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Dough

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 package active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

5 cups all-purpose flour + more for dusting

Pickled mustard seeds

1 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1/3 cup whole yellow mustard seeds

To finish

-- Vegetable oil spray

6 hot dogs

8 cups water

3/4 cup baking soda

-- Coarse or pretzel salt

For the dough: Combine water and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and whisk until yeast is dissolved and starts to bubble, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, 1 egg, butter and 1 cup of flour, and whisk together. Turn machine on low and add remaining flour in batches, waiting until each batch is combined. Stop every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl and clean off the hook.

Once you've incorporated all of the flour and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, transfer the dough ball to an oiled bowl, flip to oil the dough on all sides, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm place - your kitchen counter should be fine - until it doubles in size.

For the mustard seeds: Bring the vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil in a small saucepan, stir to dissolve, then remove from heat and stir in the mustard seeds. Transfer to a bowl or container and refrigerate, covered, at least an hour, or up to 2 days.

To assemble: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with non-stick spray and dust with flour - this is important, or else the dough will stick; set aside. Cut hot dogs in half lengthwise, and then cut each half in 4 pieces, so that you have 8 pieces per hot dog; set aside.

Divide the dough in half, and on a floured surface, roll out each half into a 1/2-inch thick square, then slice into 2-inch strips. Take one strip and evenly space hot dog pieces about 1/2 inch apart on top, add a few pickled mustard seeds, then top with another dough strip. Using a pastry cutter or knife, slice through the top and bottom layer of dough around each hot dog piece, to make a little packet. Pinch the sides of each together if necessary to make sure there are no holes. Repeat with remaining dough and hot dogs. (The bites can be prepared up to this point and frozen for up to 3 weeks.)

Bring the 8 cups water and baking soda to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add a few pretzel bites and boil for about 30 seconds; remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the baking sheet. (The baking soda in the water helps keep the dough lighter.) Repeat with the remaining bites.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Beat the remaining egg with a few splashes of water, and brush over the tops of the bites; sprinkle with salt. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

Adapted from a Rick Rogers' recipe in Bon Appetit, this sweet sauce has a kick and is great mixed into pulled pork (see recipe) but also can be served alongside grilled meats. Make this up to two weeks ahead and store in the fridge.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup finely minced onion

1 teaspoon kosher salt

-- Freshly ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

10 ounces cherry preserves or jam

1 can cherry cola (1 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 cup sweet chili sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco

Instructions: Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, salt and a few grinds of pepper and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the jam, cola, sugar, vinegar and chili sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook about 1 hour, stirring frequently, until the sauce reduces and naps the back of a spoon. Add Tabasco and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate up to a week.

Cola-Braised Pulled Pork

Serves 6-8

This pulled pork is a cheap way to serve company. Most of the heavy lifting can be done the night before, which also helps meld and deepen the flavors. To cut the sweetness of the pork, serve with pickled onions, vinegary coleslaw and/or pickles. The pulled pork can be refrigerated up to 2 days.

3 pounds whole pork shoulder, bone-in

-- Kosher salt

-- Freshly ground pepper

6 garlic cloves, finely minced or put through a garlic press

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cans cola (2 1/4 cups), not diet

2 cups chicken broth or stock

1 large onion, roughly diced

1/2 to 1 cup Cherry Cola BBQ Sauce (see recipe)

-- Apple cider vinegar

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350°. Trim the shoulder of any excess fat, then generously season it with salt and pepper. Place it in a Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot with a lid.

Whisk together garlic, mustard, sugar, cola and chicken broth or stock. Pour the mixture over the pork and scatter the onion on top. Cover and cook for about 3 hours, flipping the shoulder over halfway through and checking every now and again until the pork falls off the bone and is fork tender. Remove from the oven, cool, and refrigerate the meat in its juices 6 hours or overnight. This helps develop flavor and makes it easier to remove the fat.

Skim off and discard the solid layer of fat. Remove the pork from the braising liquid and set aside. Strain the liquid into a large measuring glass, then pour 2 cups into a medium-size saucepan big enough to hold the pork.

Put any solids (mostly onion and garlic) in a blender along with a little of the braising liquid and blend until smooth. Add the mixture to the liquid in the saucepan. (Keep leftover liquid in case you want to thin out the sauce.) Bring the mixture in the saucepan to a boil over medium heat; cook until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, shred the pork, removing excess fat. Add the shredded pork back to the saucepan; warm through, then add the BBQ sauce (start with 1/2 cup and add more as desired) and stir together. Add a few teaspoons of cider vinegar and some salt to taste. Serve on seeded buns or a roll with your choice of toppings.

Pairing: Beer - generally the beverage of choice for ballgames - is a good pulled pork partner. Opt for a brew with enough weight and hops to stand up to the sweet sauce and vinegary pickles: an American double/imperial IPA or porter.

Popcorn Ice Cream

Makes about 6 cups

Even those who don't already love the popcorn Jelly Belly jelly beans will come around to the popcorn-as-dessert camp with this ice cream. Serve with some fleur de sel on top, or some caramel and fleur de sel, because why not?

1 cup popcorn kernels

2 tablespoons canola oil

5 cups milk

2 cups cream

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

Instructions: Put the kernels and oil in a deep pot, cover, and heat over medium heat. Pop the corn, being careful not to burn it. If it starts to burn, don't panic, just take it off the heat and remove the burnt kernels.

Heat the milk, cream and sugar in a small saucepan until almost boiling, and pour over the popcorn. Cover; let stand for 45 minutes.

Blend half of the mixture in a blender until smooth, mix into the remaining half and strain through a chinois or fine strainer. Blend the full mixture again until smooth; strain. Add salt, and freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.